They did go as far as to relocate the ignition switch to the Saab-correct center console if I remember. I don’t think they did that to the also-re-trimmed 9-2x SAABaru.....

Proposals and ultimatums are not the same thing, as much as you are trying to equate them.

I suppose it would come down to why the proposal was turned down. If it is a case of “I’m just not ready for that yet”, I could see things continuing on, but it would be awkward for a while because that proposal is just sort of hanging over the relationship. I tend to think though that the typical reason a…

I guess I was lucky with both... the first was a ‘94 VL coupe, the most basic car ever (not even a mirror on the passenger door) with the old “Iron Duke” 2.2 and manual. Drove it to just over 300K then sold it to a friend who drove it for another year, when things started to go on it (clutch/brakes). Replaced it with…

I will never understand the hate for the Cavalier. I’m not saying it was a particularity great car, but I’ve owned two and put 300k kms plus on both with minimal maintenance. And the 95-2002 versions weren’t horrible to look at (really, the 88 on had some sort of style, if not unique). Cheap to run, cheap to fix…

Put another way, eventually we will be required to let computers ferry us around to save less than 0.02% of the driving population. I fully grasp that yes, in that number is someone’s dead kid, but when arguments turn to “look at the facts/statistics/numbers”, well there is one, and it is pretty small. When discussing…

On a road I think it is. The shoulder of some is permitted, but on the actual road, I don’t think you would be allowed to ride a horse (not that you’d want to). With person-driven cars, I don’t think the same ‘exemption’ would be possible.

I see motorcyclists say things like this all the time. In an AD environment, why would you be exempt to be allowed to ride your bike but I’m not allowed to drive my car? (assuming mandated AD cars of course).

That reduction theory doesn’t work though in a 2-income family. You still will need 2 cars for mom and dad to get to their respective jobs, plus dropping off Mike and Molly at school. In fact I could see a 3rd car in a purely AD enviroment where mom, dad, and the kids each have their own AD ride to their destinations.…

Is there such a nefarious and powerful enough group to actually try and attempt that, risking literally their own death (employment and existence) to do so? I’m sure idiotic safety nuts might try to do this but to what end? What is gained in an AD world by banning private ownership? Further, there are some pretty…

Haha...I call my 6 GT hatch my adult car (stepped up from a Z24 coupe....). Mine is an 06/V6/5spd and is thoroughly fun to drive. It is sad that they discontinued the hatch design, especially when it has made a resurgence given the A7/4-seriesGS. When I finally kill my 6, I’ll want to replace it with this car, though…

Booooo. GearKnobs was a brilliant name for their show if they were to continue on doing what they’ve always done. Sure, a bit of a troll of the BBC, but no more so than 5thGear was at the time it started, though admittedly less childish. Frankly, the name fit perfectly, being a spin on the ‘gear-head’ reference…

3rd gear: They were talking about this on the Bill Maher show on HBO regarding how the EPA doesn’t get enough funding. Seems the solution is pretty straight forward - have the manufacturer’s pay for the testing. I realize that they will just pass the cost of the tests onto the consumer, but really dividing the cost up…

From what I see at dealerships around me (new or used), the dealer sticker is put on the car the first chance they get (typically not long after they have been off loaded from the transporter for new, or as part of the initial clean-up of a recent trade-in. Personally, I don’t really care either way but then I am not…

And there is the rub. So is it a case of how hard he insists he pays before he agrees to split, or is it if he lets you split it at all?

And that makes a difference why? Bureaucracy is bureaucracy, regardless of what hat it wears. Safety vs emmisions, both are a Federal matter, so not really all that different in the end. Or are you suggesting that EPA is/should have more teeth than safety?

So this fiasco has me wondering something - assuming the Feds mandate the fix on all cars so none ‘slip through the cracks’ as it were if you want to update your registration, what is to stop you from resetting the car back to the previous ‘dirty’ mode after getting the clean bill? What sparked this was seeing yet…

As I said to the COTD, no it isn’t reason to gloat, because you own a Prius. Also, if said Prius is plug in, well, there’s a good chance you’re contributing to higher NOx levels anway, just not directly out your own tail-pipe since 39% of all electricity in the U.S. is made by burning coal, and a further 27% burning…

Um, sure it is. 10,000+ dead due to 100% of negligence of GM vs 1,000,000 who maybe die where culpable contribution of VW is 1% of the cause. I get your anger, but that is the context.

I keep reading that the ignition issue was an ‘honest mistake’ or some variation there-of. From what I read ages ago during the investigation, the engineers sorting between ignition cylinder A and ignition cylinder B knew of the possible failure with A if anything heavier than the key itself was in it, but still went…